The Love of the Goddesses
by Normandy
Summary: After a terrible incident, Link goes into a shutdown. But the Goddesses send him back a week before the incident to try and prevent it; will he be able to stop it from happening again? (Chapters 6-9 up)
1. Chapter One

Four years ago...  
  
King Harkinian of Hyrule awoke with a start. He forced himself out of bed and headed toward his balcony. As he made his way past his carefully and beautifully carved bookshelf, he stopped and sat in a velvet chair next to it and pulled an old photo album off of the shelf.  
  
He flipped through it for a while, trying to make himself sleepy again. When he woke up in the middle of the night like this, he went through these photo scrapbooks and it always made him tired again. But tonight was different; he had a bad feeling about...something. He couldn't understand exactly what.  
  
Feeling no sense in taking any more time reading the captions of the pictures, he got up and, carefully placing the book back on its shelf, continued his destination to his balcony.  
  
Finally, he made his way to the top of the balcony and sat down. It was rather cold that night; it was the middle of September and the temperatures were falling rapidly and beginning to stay that way. A soft, cold breeze made him shiver and shook his now graying wavy hair back and forth, along with his beard that he had so long neglected to care for. His wife, Ellen, always bothered him about it, but why bother cutting it? It would only get longer again; besides, he liked the image it gave him; he thought it made him look more like a powerful man rather than an aging king.  
  
Finally he felt as though the cold had made his bones so painfully freezing that he knew it was time to go back in. Before, though, he looked at the moon's position and interpreted the time: two o' clock, maybe two thirty.  
  
As he headed back to his room, he heard the soft sound of footsteps and turned around to see his seven-year-old daughter, Zelda, running toward him.  
  
"Daddy! Daddy, something bad happened to Mommy, come quick, come quick!"  
  
"Don't worry honey, I'm sure it was only a dream," Harkinian said, smiling.  
  
"But Da-a-ad!" Zelda protested.  
  
"I'll tuck you in," Harkinian said firmly.  
  
And so Harkinian took Zelda, whining the whole way, back to her bedroom. Then he went down the hallway to his room.  
  
Zelda didn't understand why her father wouldn't listen to her. Something bad happened to her mother! And now something would happen to her father...and then, what if they came for her?  
  
She didn't want to stay and wonder what would happen if they did. So she decided to get out, right then and there. She went up to her window and threw it open. Shivering in the breeze she met upon opening the window, she gathered up her bed sheets. She tied the ends together in a simple, weak, and inaccurate not, but that would have to do. Her room was far from the ground, so she tied all the sheets she could gather together and threw them out the window. She crawled through the window and grabbed onto the first length of sheet. Then she realized she couldn't do it. It wasn't that she was weak, but she soon learned of her fear of heights. Then, too late, she learned of her poor performance in the tying of knots. As she forced herself to crawl down to the next sheet, her weight pulled on the first sheet and undid the knot.  
  
She knew she should've planned this beforehand as she looked down and realized she planned her escape over the moat. But it was too late, and her and the remaining sheets fell the remainder of the drop into the icy cold water. Zelda tried to swim, but soon after she fell in she had gone totally numb. And so she allowed the stream to carry her through the moat, into the river that the moat opened into, and as it carried her further and further she became more and more numb...finally, after an eternity, after Zelda was far past her limitation of pain...she stopped moving. She lifted her head up as much as she could but all she could see was grass and all she could smell was dirt...she realized she still had the sheet in her hand, but that didn't matter anymore...finally the numbness and bitter cold began to leave her, she forgot her terror, she forgot everything, and she felt a strange sense of peace...  
  
Harkinian crawled into bed. As he did so he thought he saw Ellen make a strange movement, as though she were still awake.  
  
"Ellen, are you awake?" Harkinian asked.  
  
"She will sleep forever," a stranger's voice said from behind him.  
  
Harkinian turned around and found a group of three people, masked and dressed in dark clothing, looking back at him. He stood up and prepared to fight, but as he did so the man in front came forward.  
  
"Hello...your Highness..." he said mockingly.  
  
"Who are you?" Harkinian asked.  
  
"I? Who I am is none of your business, and you will soon not worry or wonder who I am," the man said. Without warning he made a thrusting movement and Harkinian felt a dagger plunge into his lower belly. He knew then that tonight was his last night, that he had seen his beloved daughter for the last time, and that...that his wife was dead...  
  
"Don't wake up..." the man said coldly. Then he laughed and Harkinian knew no more 


	2. Chapter Two

Link didn't understand many things. He especially didn't understand how loving goddesses could let the world fall into such a hateful, violent place. He especially didn't understand how the goddesses worked, however, the next day, when the news came.  
  
It was around nine o' clock, and Link was still asleep as the guard arrived at his tree house and knocked on the door.  
  
"Whozit..." Link mumbled sleepily.  
  
"I am here under the orders of the King's successor to bring you some news," the guard responded.  
  
Immediately Link snapped out of his tired state. "Successor?" he asked.  
  
"Well...that's what I've been sent to tell you..." the guard said uncomfortably. He shifted.  
  
"Well...?" Link encouraged.  
  
"Well...it is to my regret that I must inform you...last night Zelda was found dead on a bank a mile off of the castle...and His Highness and his wife found dead in their beds," the guard said. He shifted again. He was very good at concealing emotion; a tactic a guard must use many times. Now, however, he found it hard to keep it hidden.  
  
"WHAT? They're WHAT?!" Link cried.  
  
"I'm terribly sorry...I know you were very close to Zelda...and...and King Harkinian..."  
  
"Yeah..." Link mumbled, turning away. "Yeah, very close..."  
  
The guard turned and left. Link walked slowly to his sink and, grasping the edges tightly, stared at his reflection. This was another thing he didn't understand: how could he feel such unexpected, impossibly strong surge of emotion that either did not have anything to do with the current event, or just a stronger emotion than he ever knew he could have. And as of right now he felt just that. As he continued to stare, tears slowly leaked down his cheeks. Then there was a total outburst, as though a block had been removed, and his grief passed all measure, all endurance...and then anger, boiling anger, anger he never felt before, and then it passed anger and turned into hatred, pure, raging, bubbling hatred making his head throb...then the desire to kill, torture, cause terrible suffering...  
  
He was going to kill the person responsible.  
  
xxCurrent Day...xx  
  
Link leaned over his wrist, a knife in his right hand, gently running over his wrist. The knife felt cold against his used-to-be smooth skin. What used to be his left wrist was now covered in deep red cuts and darkened scars.  
  
"Today...just a little bit deeper..." He mumbled to himself.  
  
Link moved the knife into a starting position on the left side of his wrist, then with a fierce, strong motion let out three days of fury and pain as blood poured out of yet another new cut and began mumbling to himself again.  
  
"Good...good job, Link..."  
  
"LINK!"  
  
Link jumped and turned around to his door. Saria stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.  
  
"And just what are you doing, mister?!" she demanded.  
  
"Well, I...I...No, nothing—" Link started.  
  
"Don't do that to me, Link! I can see just a plainly as you can what you just did to yourself! Look at you! You're a WRECK! Ever since Zelda and the king died, you've been cutting yourself for every little obstacle in your life! Don't you care? Zelda loved you and if she were alive and knew what you were up to—"  
  
"But she's not," Link interrupted. "She's dead and she's gone. I saw her retire forever in her grave. She's never coming back, and neither will I. When she died, so did I."  
  
"Link..." Saria started, tears forming in her eyes.  
  
"I'm dead, too." Link said.  
  
Saria turned to leave, but then she turned around again and said, "Link, you can't live on her forever. I've seen what you've been doing; drinking, getting into fights, cutting....You're a wreck! Each cut you make, it's closer to your veins, and it's closer to do some serious damage! You're really worrying me, you really are! You really need to stop it!" She burst into tears and ran off, forgetting about the ladder and falling a long distance for a Kokiri and landing on her hands, in an attempt to protect herself from harm.  
  
Link ran out to the top of the ladder. "Saria!" he yelled down, "are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine!" Saria screamed. Then she started bawling. "I'm perfectly f- fine! N-n-never been better!"  
  
"Saria..." Link started.  
  
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Saria shrieked. "GO WASH OFF YOUR OWN DAMN CUTS AND WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF, SEE HOW MUCH IT MATTERS TO ME!" With that she ran off to the Lost Woods, beyond caring where a wrong path would take her.  
  
Link stood there in positive shock. Saria had never acted like that before. Never. Not only had she never sworn before, but she had never blown up at him either. Something must have been up with her. He couldn't understand what....Truthfully, however—and he was very ashamed, Saria was his only friend after Zelda—he found he didn't care much. He fell to his knees and realized, after several tries, that he couldn't get up. He looked at his wrist. It was worse than he had taken it for. He tried turning around and started dragging himself to the sink, but his body wouldn't listen to what his brain told it to do. He couldn't move at all. He had lost too much blood and felt extremely weak.  
  
"So..." He muttered. He couldn't muster the strength to talk in an audible voice. "This is how it all ends for me, Link, the Hero of Time...This is what I get in thanks for saving the whole world..."  
  
But it didn't end there. Even as his strength drained ever still, he could no longer sit on his knees and fell face first into the hard ground at the foot of his ladder. He was feeling very numb at that point; luckily for him, it didn't hurt very much. Finally, after lying there for at least another ten minutes, everything around him began to get very blurred. He couldn't see in front of him, and finally his entire mental existence whited out and he knew nor felt no more.  
  
It was all over. 


	3. Chapter Three

Or was it?  
  
Link awoke in total blackness. He felt as though he was falling through eternal darkness. He couldn't see anything below, above, or around him...surprisingly, in this darkness, he could see every detail about his body...was this darkness or just a void of emptiness? Suddenly he felt a jolt at the back of his spine and he slowed down greatly. As he did, the "wind" he was hearing became voices, laughing at him, taunting him...  
  
"Link, Link, go Link! You're our hero! Our heeee-roooo!" a voice said mockingly.  
  
"Wha...where am I?!" Link said.  
  
"Link...Link, the Hero of Time, killed by a simple knife wound he inflicted himself with!" another voice said. Then it began to cackle hideously, causing the hair on the back of Link's neck to stand on end.  
  
"Link, our hero, get up! Get up, boy! We need saving! The world needs saving! Ha! And you can't do anything because you're DEAD!" yet another voice screamed. This voice was practically in his ear...  
  
"Leave me alone!" Link cried out into the darkness.  
  
The voices laughed all together and faded into the darkness. He sped up again, and the laughter became wind again.  
  
"Where AM I?" Link said in a panic. "This must be my own hell or something...this is what I get for cutting myself so much..."  
  
Suddenly everything went white again and he knew nothing more of the place.  
  
He awoke in a beautiful place. It was in total contrast to where he was previously. And in front of him...he couldn't believe his eyes! The three goddesses stood before him, glowing in their beautiful light of red, blue and green...  
  
"Link..." Nayru said. She had a loving, tender voice, courageous and fearless...but it also sounded harsh and wise. "As you know...you have died..."  
  
"But it could be different..." Farore said. She had the same wiseness to Nayru's voice, but it was more prominent and less loving and courageous. It was balanced with harshness to her voice. "You could help them...and we could help you to do that..."  
  
"Yes..." Din, the third goddess, said. Her voice was the most prominent in harshness, but she sounded wise, loving, and courageous also. "We have decided—although you have died—that we will send you back to the realm of the living to help them..."  
  
"How?" Link asked. "How will I help them?"  
  
"We will share with you our powers. Once at a time, however...we fear for you should we give them to you all at once..." Nayru replied.  
  
"So...so, I have three chances to stop all of this? Then it'll all be okay again?"  
  
"This is so." Farore said.  
  
"You will begin immediately." Din said. "You will be sent back four years ago, a week before the incident. The rest...is up to you."  
  
"You have a week to find out who is responsible, and should you figure that out, then you are to stop it all from happening." Nayru said. "First...you will receive the gift of wisdom from our sister Farore."  
  
"And it will be so," said Farore. "Now...I give to you my power, the power of wisdom."  
  
"O goddesses..." Link said, bending to one knee. "You are truly the merciful creators of this world. I will find who is responsible and bring justice to him."  
  
"Be sure that you do...after three chances, nobody will have the chance to help again."  
  
Link felt yet another whiteness envelope him and he closed his eyes, opening them in his home in the Kokiri Forest. It was about midnight. He looked down at his wrist; it was smooth. There were no cuts on it at all.  
  
"This...this is too good to be true..." he muttered. And he cried with happiness...he had another chance to fix things. And he would. He set out immediately.  
  
What he didn't know was, in the sky's deep blackness, the goddesses were watching far away, laughing at him... 


	4. Chapter Four

Authors Note: Okay, it's come to my attention that I may have messed up who's what with the goddesses. My consoles are broken from a recent flood and I haven't played any Zelda games for a long time, so I might have forgotten. Could ya try to bear with me, and I'll try to fix it in later chapters? Not like it matters...uh, don't pay attention to that last remark ;  
  
Link was halfway down Hyrule Field, full of new inspiration, when it hit him: He didn't have the slightest clue as to WHERE he was headed. He knew nothing as to who did it, and if there was any organized gang leading the killing, or even WHY they did it.  
  
"I'm...screwed..." Link muttered. Once again, his emotions were being pressed onto him. A stronger feeling of doubt, disappointment, and fear than he had ever felt before now came to him with a strong passion. "Where am I gonna go..."  
  
He heard laughter. He spun around but saw nothing anywhere near him. Actually, he was probably the only sign of life in this general area of the field for miles.  
  
"What the..."  
  
There was nothing anywhere. Link felt very foolish.  
  
"Well, then...now that I'm over my temporary schizophrenia, I should work on figuring out who—God DAMN it, it's hopeless!" Link slumped onto the ground, a feeling of hopelessness again invading his thoughts.  
  
More laughter rang in his ears.  
  
"WHERE IS IT COMING FROM!" Link screamed into the night. "SHOW YOURSELF!"  
  
Nobody came.  
  
"HELLO!" Link screamed, even louder still. "HELLO!" His eyes darted from left to right, and he turned around to see if someone was there.  
  
"Wait...why am I so paranoid all of a sudden?" He burst into tears. "What's WRONG with me?" He cried out. "Why am I so...what's happening to me?" He stopped crying. "Something's up, I know it...what IS it with me all of a sudden?" He had felt emotions prod him harder than usual at times, but never, NEVER like this...  
  
Then it occurred to him. He knew what he could do.  
  
"Hey! I'm smart now!" He said enthusiastically. "I have Farore's knowledge, I'm sure I can hunt out whoever's planning to kill the king and Zelda!"  
  
He searched deep inside himself, trying to trigger his newly acquired powers. When he succeeded, the last thing he felt was regret as his mind snapped under the great understanding of...everything. He fell to the ground and plunged into darkness.  
  
He awoke the next day, and, guessing by the sun's position, it was well past noon.  
  
"What...what happened last night?" He muttered. He tried to sit up but his head exploded with pain. He groaned and fought at the growing desire to pass back out onto the grass. "My mind...must not be able to take it all in...at one time..." He mumbled. Smiling, he rested back down. "Got to take it easy...ha, I have the mind of a goddess in my head, and yet I was stupid enough to...to...overload...my..." He fainted.  
  
He woke up again in the darkness of night. His head felt much better.  
  
"Okay," he said. "I'll just try to pull up the ability to see who does what next week and get a profile on him..." He concentrated hard, and soon he had all the information he needed.  
  
He set off. 


	5. Chapter Five

Author's Note: In case ya haven't noticed...I'm already pretty deep into this fanfic. I'm posting a few chapters a day for whoever wants to read them and I'm pumping out more chapters, so I might be putting up two chapters a day at first to catch up and such.

---

A man named Stephin. He was after a man named Stephin. With a deep search of his new gift, the wisdom of Farore, he delved deeply into the information of the man he was after. Stephin was a very tall, thin man who wore black, flowing robes. He was very tall and thin, with long, black hair that reached very well past his waist. His hideout was—Link double-checked this—far in the depths of the Gerudo Desert. He had trekked through this sandy wasteland once before; it would NOT be pleasant. Link shuddered as he remembered the long 3-day trip to the Desert Oasis and the Spirit Temple. It was amazing how the climate could differ in Hyrule just by a few miles. Why, a gap no less than a mile or so separated grasslands from a vast, heated desert.  
  
Link shook his head. "Concentrate..." he muttered.  
  
But he couldn't. He finally gave up and let his mind wander as he traveled across the field yet again. He wasted a day and wouldn't give up any more time to stupidity; he would stay awake twenty-four seven.  
  
"But," he thought, "wouldn't THAT be another act of stupidity?"  
  
He stopped thinking about it.  
  
Halfway through the night, he realized how much he missed Epona. He sure could use her right about now.  
  
"Maybe it's time to visit that old ranch," Link said to himself.  
  
At the Lon Lon Ranch  
  
Link approached the gates of the ranch. It was very large, and on the inside it looked calm and peaceful. Of course, chickens and horses couldn't be out at this time of night. But he had work to do now.  
  
He headed toward the stables where he knew very well the horses were kept, but he stopped right as his hand touched the wooden doorknob.  
  
It may have sounded dumb, perhaps even inappropriate, but he was going to ask for her. After all, the goddesses sent him on a quest, and he shouldn't be stealing horses in the name of their requests.  
  
And so, Link went across the narrow "hall" of land between the stables and the house and gently tried the doorknob. They must have had a long day; the door had been neglected and was left unlocked. Link smiled. This would make this much, much easier.  
  
As he walked in and silently closed the door, any light provided by the moon disappeared and he plunged into total darkness. He tried to make his way silently to the steps and up them, but he only managed the silence on the way to the stairs. He then tripped over the trick step.  
  
Link swore. "No more stupidity...I forgot about trick steps..."  
  
Link waited for what seemed like an eternity, his breath held.  
  
Nobody came.  
  
Releasing his breath, he continued his way up the steps, never tripping a second time. Finally he made it to the door that separated him from Malon and Talon. He slowly opened the door, and into more darkness. He edged to the bed opposite the loud, recurring snores, and, sure enough, he found Malon tangled in the bed sheets in the bed nearest to him. He slowly reached out and grabbed her shoulder, shaking it gently.  
  
She snapped awake. "Muhh...morning...n-now?" she mumbled. She let her head fall back onto the pillow and she mumbled indistinctly for a few more moments, until Link lost patience and leaned over, whispering in her ear,  
  
"Malon! Wake up!"  
  
She bolted upward.  
  
"What?!" she screamed out.  
  
The snores from opposite the room faltered. Link clapped his hand over Malon's mouth and stared over his shoulder in the direction of Talon's bed.  
  
"Baggdasleepmaluh, youhadabahdree..." he mumbled. The snoring resumed.  
  
Link bent over, whispering again,  
  
"Malon, it's me, Link. I just need a favor."  
  
He removed his hand and she answered,  
  
"What do you need? Anything."  
  
"I need Epona."  
  
"Well, why, though?" she said suspiciously. "Will you...return her?"  
  
"Please Malon, you need to trust me with Epona before I tell you why I need her."  
  
There was a long pause.  
  
"Okay, Link, I'll trust you."  
  
Link proceeded to fill her in on everything that happened, starting with the meeting of the goddesses, his purpose of being where he was, and then why he met the goddesses in the first place.  
  
"...and so, here I am, alive and ready to stop all of this."  
  
"Oh, Link," Malon said. "That story...it's really hard to believe, you know..."  
  
"You need to trust me. Zelda and the king are counting on me AND YOU now."  
  
"All...alright, Link. You can have Epona."  
  
"Thanks Malon. You're a good friend." Link said happily. He hugged her and walked back out the door.  
  
"Link!"  
  
Link turned around, realized Malon wouldn't have been aware, and decided to respond with "Yeah?"  
  
"...be careful..." came her response.  
  
"Don't worry." Link replied. "I'll take care of everything."  
  
Within another half hour, Epona was saddled and was being ridden by Link out of Lon Lon Ranch.


	6. Chapter Six

Link felt better as Epona covered more and more ground towards the brownish- red land of the Gerudo. He'd bring this man, Stephin, to justice soon enough. Finally, after at least an hour of riding in endless grassland, Link caught a glimpse of brown land.  
  
"Gerudo Valley, dead ahead." Link said.  
  
The closer he got to the rich red earth, the more his mind wandered back to wondering about the desert. He figured that the absence of rain, and clouds, meant the absence of heat at night and cool air and shade during the day. Either way, the desert was ruthless and he sure wasn't looking forward to searching THIS desert out of all the other deserts in the world for Stephin.  
  
The sun rose slowly on the horizon of mountains on either side of Link as he slowly approached the sound of water and caught sight of a bridge. It was morning by the time he reached the entrance to the Gerudo Fortress, the only thing between him and the vast desert itself.  
  
He got to the other side of the bridge when he realized that the entrance to the Fortress was barred.  
  
"Halt!" a voice called out.  
  
Link looked up, and saw a Gerudo. She looked angry and annoyed just by his presence.  
  
"And you're here...why?" She demanded of him.  
  
"I'm looking for a man named Stephin. He's hiding somewhere in the Haunted Wasteland."  
  
"The hell is Stephin?!" the Gerudo demanded again.  
  
"Stephin...he's...he's..."  
  
"You're making this up to get in! Why?" She shouted at him.  
  
"No! I'm not making it up!" Link protested.  
  
"You know, boy, that we Gerudos dislike men and children...and that we actually distrust children, to boot." She said in an annoyed voice.  
  
"Well...yes..." Link mumbled.  
  
"So, why should I trust you, a male child?" She said, and laughed. "Whatever. I'm not going to bother with a child." She nonchalantly reached out and grabbed Link by the shoulder. Then, gently to her as it seemed, but with great strength, pushed him right off the side of the bridge, sending him plummeting into the river below.  
  
As Link fell, he heard her shout, "By the way, thanks for the horse!"  
  
He hit the water so hard he blacked out.  
  
Lake Hylia  
  
"Owwww..." Link muttered. He woke up with a sharp pain in his back. He was lying there, on the shore of Lake Hylia, about mid afternoon on the second day of his return to life. His hand rested on his chest. He was about to move it when he stopped; there was something odd. He pressed down on his chest, but he didn't feel anything. He pressed down harder and harder, but still he felt no heartbeat. He sat up.  
  
"What the hell!" He panicked.  
  
"Link, relax, please..." A harsh voice said behind him. Yet...the voice seemed wise, courageous, loving...  
  
"Din!"  
  
"Yes..." came the response. She sounded rather sad, for some reason.  
  
"O Din...am I...did I die?"  
  
"Yes, Link. The fall killed you. It's to be expected, however...seeing as you've passed out so much." Did Link hear a snicker? Her face was masked, as he just noticed, so he couldn't tell. "The gift of wisdom has been removed from you, and in a trade I give you my power..." With a swipe of her hand, she left with Link standing there, wondering.  
  
Suddenly, Link felt an incredible surge of power run through him. It was amazing...he felt great. He felt powerful...extremely powerful...  
  
"This is awesome!" Link cried out. He looked around for something to test his strength on and spotted a nearby tree. "I bet I could lift that!" He said, as if challenging the earth in a bet. Then he walked over to the tree and, without the slightest bit of effort, pushed it onto its side, roots and all. "Damn..." he said in amazement.  
  
He wasted no more time. He ran as quickly as he could, which was rather quick now that his legs were so strong, back to the Gerudo Valley bridge.  
  
Gerudo Valley  
  
Link approached the guard at the gate blocking Gerudo Fortress.  
  
"You again?" The guard said in disgust. "I thought that would have killed you. Heh...you're stronger than I took you for..."  
  
Link said nothing. He came up to her, until he was right in front of her. Then, with his new strength, he grabbed her wrist and threw her off the bridge. "See," Link yelled after her, "it's not too pleasant falling off of bridges, is it?"  
  
Then he turned toward the gate, lifted it right off of the ground, and set it to the side. "Amazing." He said. "This certainly beats my old gauntlets."  
  
He ran into the fortress right as the sun began to set. He didn't know what to expect; he hadn't been here since 8 years from now. 


	7. Chapter Seven

"I can't do this..." Link muttered. "What's wrong with me?"  
  
Link was slumped against the side of the stone "hall" that lead to the Gerudo Fortress. He had never felt this way before. He felt like he couldn't to do this. Every time he tried to stand up and walk, his legs would give out. Why was he so afraid?  
  
"I HAVE to do this..." he told himself. "I have to do it, now. In the name of the goddesses." He forced himself up and stumbled toward the fortress itself.  
  
Eventually he gained his courage back. It took a while, but once he arrived at the gate he was ready for anything. He entered through the gates. It was exactly as he remembered it; guards patrolled every length of the fortress and there was a large building with multiple doorways to one side. He headed towards the nearest doorway.  
  
"If the inside of this boulder is as complex as it will be 8 years from now," he thought, "it'll be hell looking for Stephin."  
  
He made his way slowly and quietly towards the doorway, carefully avoiding the guards. There was a point where he thought one of them saw him, but she had tripped and was trying to regain her balance. When he finally got there he entered and felt a sudden change in the air; it was cold. How the Gerudo could stand being inside these walls with what they were wearing, Link never did find out. He couldn't try and figure it out now, though, he had things to do. He began his search.  
  
The thing he forgot, however, was that there were also guards inside the house compound. He was resting behind a box after a few hours of walking around slopes and more doorways, when a guard turned a corner and caught sight of him.  
  
"Hey! You kid! What're you doing here?!," she cried out. Link didn't hesitate. He jumped up and ran with the Gerudo woman running closely behind him screaming "stop!"  
  
Eventually he outran her, or so he thought. He was hiding behind another box ("They sure have a lot of these," he thought) when suddenly he heard "THERE! There's the boy who intruded!"  
  
"What?" Link cried. "How did you find me?"  
  
"Green contrasts against gray nicely," the leading Gerudo said with a sneer. The other Gerudos she had gathered began to chuckle until Link began to run. "Dammit, stop laughing and go after him!" the leader screamed. "Idiots!"  
  
The Gerudos, mumbling about how unfair that seemed to them, proceeded to chase after Link. Even though he had a decent head start, the women were taller and had stronger legs from patrolling and working all day; it was a no-competition to catch him. They dragged him, kicking, biting and cursing to their high stone chamber and threw him in without a single word. It was just like when he had come as an adult. He hit the floor hard and felt, once again, blackness shrouding his eyes.  
  
When he woke up he was in the middle of the desert.  
  
"W-what?" he mumbled to himself. His first reaction was to turn on his stomach in panic, which turned out to be very stupid; the sand began to burn the bare chest that was revealed from the tear in the thread that held the top of his tunic together. "Those Gerudos...must have torn it..." he grumbled. He got to his feet and started walking aimlessly forward. He knew this was it. Those damn Gerudos...they ruined everything. This was his last life, and he wasted it on them taking him out in this heat with no water; too bad he no longer had his ocarina; he could have easily called on rains to help him cool down. As he thought of his he became more and more angry; finally he couldn't take it anymore. He saw a long wooden pole sticking from the ground; he ran over and kicked it right out of the sand and at least half of a mile away. Then it hit him:  
  
"The guide poles!"  
  
Guide poles led to the left and to the right. Now all he had to figure out was which way to go. He chose the left way, and made his way down the desert terrain to, hopefully, the way out...and something to eat.  
  
Link had walked for about 15 minutes until he came to the stone building where the mysterious Poe guided him to the Desert Collosus. Of course, that would be of no help to him now; there wasn't any water there. Unless he played his ocarina, which he didn't have any more, so he was basically in trouble. He made his way to the stone opening to the basement of the building for some shelter from the blowing sand. He was halfway down the steps when he heard voices.  
  
"Okay, you enter through the path I set out through the courts and then down the moat...and enter through the opening on the side of the castle. There, you'll have to take out the guards, since this operation is at night..."  
  
Link couldn't believe it. This could be who he was looking for. The man named Stephin...he could be in there, he could be the one making those plans...but he couldn't go after him just yet. He couldn't try and take him out right there, his henchmen were undoubtedly there with him. He held onto the ladder and listened some more.  
  
"Right. Then, once you're in the main court, you will enter the hallway with the bedrooms through the first window to your right. Once you're there, you'll be able to find the rooms of the king, queen, and princess.  
  
"First off, you MUSTN'T be seen under any circumstances. If you are seen, be sure to take the person out as soon as you can so they can't call for help or find reinforcements. Remember this. Be sure to take out the king and queen first; then take out the princess.  
  
And always, ALWAYS keep your mask on. You mustn't be recognized. No matter what.  
  
If all goes according to plan, I will be the next heir to the throne."  
  
Link couldn't breathe. "Is he stupid?" he thought to himself. "He can't get away with this! Wait...he has before, and he can do it now...I need to be careful." He sighed and, once more, listened in.  
  
"Remember: this Saturday at 7 o' clock, we begin. Be at the front of the moat entering the village an hour early so I can brief everyone once more. Remember: if you fail, it's all of our heads. Be sure you do this right!"  
  
"Saturday at seven..." Link began. Then his arms and legs gave out. He had been hanging there a long time; he couldn't do it any more. He hit the floor with a heavy 'thud.' Everyone in the room wheeled around to stare at him, and he stared back. There was a pause, then the man, apparently Stephin, raised a crossbow and without a moment's hesitation shot Link directly between the eyes, killing him instantly.  
  
Link opened his eyes to the bliss of heaven, surrounded by the goddesses.  
  
"It would seem as though you have failed your quest..." Said the powerful sounding Din. "However..."  
  
"...we wish for you to know something. So we shall send you back, once more, and give you one more chance to save those whom you love." Farore concluded.  
  
"But this will be your last and final chance, ever. If you should fail now, you will never see them again. You can't have any other chances. Be sure that you do not make a mistake. Should you die, you will stay in that world forever, though everyone will be oblivious to you." Said Nayru.  
  
"And if I succeed...will you give me life?"  
  
"Of course." The goddesses said in unison.  
  
Link kneeled down in front of them and they transported him to the gate of the Hyrule Temple Court. He stood up and saw a guard nearby. He ran to him and asked him what time and day it was.  
  
"It's Saturday, around 6:30," the guard replied. "The gate doesn't close until 7 o' clock, do you need to speak with the king?"  
  
"Um, yeah...yeah, there's something important I need to tell him."  
  
"Well, if it's really important..." the guard opened the gate.  
  
"Oh...thank you so much!" Link exclaimed while shaking his hand quickly. "You're a lifesaver!" He ran through the gate toward the castle.  
  
A half hour later, Stephin's henchmen had entered the castle gates. Link had been standing in the castle lobby waiting for the right time to act. He had to get to the bedrooms before they did; but he couldn't go down the same path as them. At the right time, he headed down the hallway towards the bedrooms, preparing himself for a very important, and difficult, battle. However, when he got to the king and queen's bedroom, he found them both...  
  
"Dead?!" Link cried, "oh my god! What?"  
  
Lying on his bed, King Harkinian lay bleeding out of his back. His wife, the queen, lay underneath her sheets, very white. Link ran over, hoping she may have somehow survived, but no luck. They were both dead. He was too late.  
  
"Zelda," Link said to himself, "Zelda!" He ran as quickly as he could to her room. A quick scan over the room told him that Zelda was not there. However, there was an open window and bed sheets hanging from them. "She might have escaped," Link thought, "there's no blood or anything..." He ran to the window and looked down. Zelda was not there; there was no sign, other than the bed sheets, that she had ever been there at all. But he had to see if she was all right. He climbed down the bed sheets halfway down the wall and fell into the moat, letting it carry him downstream. The moat dumped into a river, and he allowed it to pull him downstream again while he scanned both sides of the land for any sign of Zelda.  
  
Eventually, he saw a small figure lying on the ground a few yards away. He climbed out of the water and ran towards it; it was Zelda.  
  
"Zelda," Link said to her. "Please...please, don't be dead..." He bent down to check her pulse. There was none. He checked for any breathing; nothing. She was cold; it was impossible to bring her back now. She was gone forever. Link had failed. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Link collapsed beside Zelda's body and cried. He cried, and he didn't feel like he ever stopped. He didn't care whether he was alive or dead; or even whether he ever stopped crying. Zelda was dead again. And he was dead too.  
  
"You see, Link?" said a harsh voice behind him. He turned around.  
  
The goddesses stood there glaring at him.  
  
"Do you see now, what we were trying to tell you?" Which goddess was that? They looked the same, suddenly; their voices sounded the same, too.  
  
"N-no," Link said warily.  
  
"Link..." said one of the goddesses, "living for people is pointless. Risking life and limb for people...other than yourself...loving...it's all pointless. Nothing means anything here. It is only misery. You...Zelda...the king, queen, everyone you know, everyone you love and hate and consider a friend, are all part of our own amusement. You're just here for us to watch as you struggle and suffer in your own misery and desperation, like ever other mortal on this wretched place."  
  
"No! No, that's not true!"  
  
"It most certainly is...you are nothing but a pawn, put here for our own amusement. We've been watching you this entire time, filled with hope that you could actually help...ha! We wouldn't let anything happen. We made sure of it."  
  
"You're not goddesses! You're demons!"  
  
"Oh, we're goddesses, all right. But those stories you've heard about us creating the earth? We started those. We didn't really create the earth, our father did."  
  
"Your father?" asked Link.  
  
"Yes...well, we'll give ourselves some credit and say we redid it all. See, our father created the earth and its inhabitants, but he didn't govern very well and he didn't oversee things. So he created us to rule the realms of this earth for him. He gave us all of his godly powers, so we redid the earth to our liking and then fought him for supreme reign. Sharing powers, it was a matched fight...but there were three of us and only one of him. Of course, that wasn't enough..."  
  
"We were evenly matched, and the three of us in separation couldn't defeat him. But, together..."  
  
"We could be more powerful than him! And we conquered him. We are the supreme rules of the universe, and he is nothing but a peasant to us."  
  
"So..." Link said, "this was...it's...life is...all a lie?"  
  
"That's about right. Everything you've ever believed in...it was all a lie. And it will end now."  
  
"You three like a good show...so...why not...well, uh..." Link stammered.  
  
"Spit it out, so we can finish you off. You're getting boring."  
  
Link continued, "I'll take you on. You can't do this!" He finally got it out.  
  
The three goddesses laughed. "You think you can take us? Ha, ha, ha. Check this out." The goddesses rose into the air, and then glowed brightly. It was all Link could do to shield his eyes as it got brighter and brighter, then suddenly the brightness stopped, and standing directly in front of his was the most terrible creature he had ever seen. He couldn't imagine how such, as it was thought, loving goddesses could look so terrible; it's hair was a strange, glowing mixture of red, green, and blue; it's skin was a sickening yellowish color; it had a long, wooly black robe on that covered it's entire body from the base of the head to it's feet, which had sharp, curved toes, just like it's hands and fingers. When it spoke, it made Link want to run away and cut off his ears, because the sound was so terrible and so unbearable to hear he didn't want to think it belonged to the goddesses he loved and worshipped all of his life. "How do you like this?" It said, and it laughed a terrible, screechy laugh that sounded like nothing Link had ever heard.  
  
"You're right. We like a good show," it said to Link. "So you may have time to gather as many warriors as you can to fight against us. See what you can do! We dare you! We'd like to see what you've gathered by then...we'll see. Who will believe you? Preach against us; we'd like to see what'll happen to you. Maybe if you get some believers...we'd like to see what we do to you. You may have three days. Go!" And the beast of a goddess disappeared with another blinding flash, leaving Link on the ground, dumbstruck. 


End file.
